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Egyptian bid for Tarmac

THE billionaire Egyptian Sawiris brothers have approached the mining giant Anglo American to buy Tarmac, its British aggregates business.

The offer, which is thought to have been in the region of £1.5 billion, has been rejected. But talks could be reopened when Cynthia Carroll, outgoing president of the primary metals business at Canada’s Alcan, takes over as Anglo’s chief executive in March. Analysts are convinced that Tarmac will be her first big disposal.

Anglo bought Tarmac seven years ago for £1.2 billion but it has always sat uncomfortably in the group.

The Sawiris are one of Egypt’s wealthiest families and have become highly acquisitive on the international stage. Two years ago Naguib Sawiris led a consortium to buy Wind, the Italian telecoms company, for €12.5 billion (£8 billion). At the time it was Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout. And the Sawaris have not hidden their ambition to create a sprawling Mediterranean